"He will be out with anything up to six to eight weeks. It's a big hit. He had a scan and it's not good.

"At the moment we're deciding with Chelsea whether to go back and have the rehab there or stay with our team."

Moses' injury is almost certain to rule him out for the remainder of the year, ruling him out of games against Liverpool, Manchester United, Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Everton and West Bromwich Albion.

His absence will add to Mark Hughes' woes, with Peter Odemwingie already a long-term absentee after suffering a knee injury earlier in the season.

On Tuesday 26 November, rumours emerged suggesting Stoke's Clayton Wood training ground had been closed due to a virus threatening to spread through their ranks.

But Stoke have played down suggestions of a bug ahead of their visit to Anfield, with a club spokesman saying: "It is being portrayed as though the training ground is in 'lock down' but is not quite as serious as that.

"Today is a day off for the first team and the academy players so, with a stomach bug doing the rounds, there is some intensive cleaning going on.

"The first team have been unaffected but a few people in the academy have it."